Rydia "Fried Pickle Lovah" of the Mist
Rydia of the Mist is a playable character from Final Fantasy IV. Known for her love of Fried Pickles, she is a Summoner who hails from the Village of the Mist and is sometimes referred to as simply Rydia, Roobs, Cabbage, and the blasted nickname that she cannot stand, Rydibork. Call her "Rydibork" and you will get your bee-hind blasted with Meteor. & Then skinned alive with a spoon. & Trust her, you wouldn't want that. Pfftt. __TOC__ Personality As a child, Rydia may seem fragile and weak, but she quickly shows to possess an inner strength that allows her to overcome the difficulties she faces. While she is very emotional, a characteristic she will keep even as an adult, she is not the kind of girl who feels sorry for herself. Ever since losing her home and family, Rydia does her best to help others and spare them from dealing with the same sufferings she couldn’t avoid. She’s the type of person who refuses to stand by and watch while others are in danger. She’s outspoken and most definitely not afraid to speak her mind. She has a tendency to be stubborn, but for the most part is feisty, spunky, and energetic. She refuses to allow herself to be pushed around, and is very brave. Overall Rydia is both sweet and tough, and while she does possess a childlike mind, she is not the type to allow people to use her and walk over her. Appearance Rydia has wild, wavy long green hair and brown eyes, and is quite petite. She tends to wear an embroidered green leotard that resembles a one-piece swimsuit, with a short skirt over it made of the same material with a long slit up the right side along with a cape. The straps of the leotard are made of multicolored beads, and attach to a slightly darker green cape that falls to just below mid-calf. A gold sash is tied around her waist, and hanging from this is a string of the same beads that make up the straps of her leotard. A loincloth also hangs from the belt, and this is made of a see-through green material. On her arms are long green arm guards that begin at her mid-upper arm in a golden cuff and extend down to her wrists. These are covered by green kimono-esque sleeves that are tied just below the cuffs, and fade from a soft green to a slightly darker shade, and are decorated with blue and gold stars. She also wears dark green leather boots that end at mid-thigh, but are attached to her sash by two strips. Her boots are high-heeled and decorated with gold designs. She also wears gold star earrings and a blue-grey flower headdress that she wears on the right side of her head, that has a deep blue jewel in the middle and a blue feather on top. Rydia's Story Canon Prologue Cecil is going back to his kingdom, Baron, after successfully completing his latest mission; take the Water Crystal located in the pacific town of Mysidia. Cecil’s troops, the Red Wings, roamed in the city and murdered anyone who tried to dissent. This kind of aggressive behaviour is far from Cecil’s habits but, while still on the airship, he dismisses the thought of having done something bad. Once arrived at the castle he reports to his king and is quickly dismissed. Discovering the motives behind the theft of the crystal is however a pressing matter for Cecil and on his way out he suddenly turns around and asks the king why did he want the crystal so badly. The king is greatly offended by Cecil’s question, since he perceives a hint of suspicion in Cecil’s words. After angrily reminding Cecil that it was he, who raised him, he puts an end to his commander status and instructs him to deliver a mysterious package to the nearby village of Mist. Kain, Cecil’s best friend, tries to make the king retrace his steps. Unfortunately his attempt only disturbs the king even more and now both of them have to leave for Mist. On the way to his room, Cecil meets Cid, Baron’s engineer, who echoes Cecil’s doubts complaining that his airships weren’t built with the aim to attack other kingdoms. Later, Rosa, Cecil’s fiancée joins Cecil in his room and when the topic of their conversation falls on his latest mission, he clearly express his regret over following such cruel orders. However, something worse has yet to happen… After going through the desert, Cecil and Kain reach the Mist Cave. At a certain point, they hear a voice who tells them to leave at once. Cecil and Kain ignore the warning and continue to walk until they reach the end of the cave. Once they get there, the voice speaks again and renews his warning not to go further. Following their second refusal, a Mist Dragon attacks Cecil and Kain. Despite being stronger than any other monster they previously faced, the duo manages to defeat him and finally reach the village. The Day of Tragedy Finally arrived in Mist, the ring Cecil and Kain were given by the king begins to glow as soon as they enter the village. To much of their surprise, an array of Bombs erupts from the ring, chasing villagers and setting everything on fire. While helpless witnessing the destruction of Mist, Cecil and Kain hear someone sobbing. A girl is kneed near her mother, talking to her as if she was still alive “Mother, you can’t die just because your dragon did….” Hearing the girl’s words, Kain explains to Cecil that a summoner dies if their Eidolon is beaten. That means they were, although unaware, responsible for the death of that girl’s mother. When the girl overhears their conversation, she asks them if they were the ones who killed the dragon. Cecil confirms her suspicion and apologises for slaying the dragon, they had no idea of the consequences. Kain then reminds Cecil they have a job to carry out, which is quite clear by now: kill every summoner in Mist. Even tough he labels it a “foul work” that is their task and he is willing to do it. Cecil however, in spite of his king’s orders, objects and decides to take the little girl to a safer place. Understandably, she has no intention to go with them and even though her mental state is far from being normal, she isn’t being completely irrational. Her parents, her village, her world were destroyed and now the one who killed her mother wants to take her away. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that while Cecil and Kain argue with each other over what they are supposed to do, she runs away. When Cecil runs after her, the girl, probably not completely in charge of her powers, unleashes on him all her fury. She summons Titan to cause a huge earthquake, which opens a fissure that goes up to the eastern mountains and cuts off Mist from the rest of the world. Awoken, Cecil finds himself lying next to the yet unnamed girl. Kain is nowhere in sight. Because of the earthquake and the damages it caused, it isn’t possible to go back to Mist. Alone with an injured girl, Cecil’s only solution is to take her away from Mist and protect her from Baronian troops. The Road to Recovery The first time Rydia wakes up, Cecil tries to establish a contact with her. Whilst he tries to make amends, Rydia refuses to tell him her name. On this occasion however, she doesn’t run away. Although she doesn’t trust Cecil yet, she might think that if his intention had been to kill her, he would have probably already done that. Still, it is as if she needed a proof. And that will come soon. That night the duo is attacked by a group of soldiers from Baron, who were given the order to eliminate all summoners left with the pretence that they are too dangerous. This obviously means Rydia has to die. Ever since the Mysidia mission, Cecil had begun to question his king’s orders and considering what happened in Mist he refuses to handle Rydia over and fights off the guards. Cecil’s act wins him the trust of Rydia. To her, he is no longer a bad person, but a person who is repenting of what he has done. She realises he hadn’t the intention to hurt anyone, but he simply carried out the orders he had received. Also, going against the king’s orders has a high price; from this point Cecil will be considered a traitor of Baron. Rydia, convinced that Cecil is truly sorry for how things went in Mist and that he is telling the truth, finally tells him her name and agrees to join him. As a gifted seven-year old child, Rydia tries to help Cecil in the best way she can. While she always accompanies him, he is the adult and she is the kid. At this time, Cecil acts as a sort of big brother to Rydia, taking care of her and protecting her from Baron. Her First Experience While in Kaipo, Cecil discovers that the White Mage Rosa is there as well, stricken with high fever. Since the only medicine is an object called Sand Pearl, the duo sets out to fetch it. During this first part of their journey, two new characters join Cecil and Rydia: Tellah and Edward. Same as Rydia and Cecil, the sage Tellah is going through the Underground Waterway. He is directed to Damcyan, the castle where the bard Edward Chris von Muir has taken his daughter, Anna. The trio manages to reach Damcyan, but it is too late; the Red Wings have already attacked the castle and stolen the Crystal of Fire. Anna is lying wounded and Tellah puts the blame on Edward, the prince of the kingdom. The two get into a fight which is stopped by Anna’s intervention. After Anna’s death, Tellah leaves the party in order to pursue revenge by himself. Edward instead has the opposite reaction, with the death of his loved one, he bursts into tears. Upon returning to Kaipo, Rosa is healed with the Sand Ruby. She rushed to Kaipo in order to warn Cecil about an attack the Red Wings were going to unleash on Damcyan and Fabul. Unfortunately falling ill prevented her from being able to deliver her message in time to save Damcyan. Fear of the Flames Throughout history, fire has always ranged among the greatest fears of men: conquering it was a long process and even after, controlling fire wasn’t trouble-free. Fire usually has a negative connotation, since it is noted in several sources that fire was the main cause of destruction and even the smallest distraction could have disastrous consequences. Being a child Rydia perceives things differently from adults, and what does not frighten an adult can be different from a child’s perspective. The “normal” fear is worsened by the fire of Mist. It was fire that robbed Rydia of her family, her friends, her home. Except from her own life, the flames that engulfed Mist took away from her everything she had. Rydia’s reluctance in learning fire has many reasons. The most obvious is that she doesn’t want to have a power that, in her mind, only brings destruction and hurt innocent people. Using fire will also bring back to memory those awful moments in which she lost everything she had. Her fear is so strong it blocked her from learning even the most basic fire spell. However, Rosa manages to persuade a reluctant Rydia to overcome her fear. If she does not, many innocent people will likely die, while survivors will have to face the same pain she faced when her home was destroyed. Thanks to the encouragement given by Rosa (and Edward), Rydia finally casts fire, allowing the group to continue their journey toward Fabul. Separation Against Her Will Atop Mt. Hobbs the group rescues the monk Yang Fang Leiden from the attacks of a pack of monsters. Yang, native from Fabul, decides to join them and warns his king of Baron’s incoming attack. While Cecil and Edward, together with the other monks, defend the castle and the Crystal of Air, Rydia and Rosa are told not to get involved in the forthcoming battle. Unfortunately the fight doesn’t end in favour of Cecil. In the Crystal Room Kain, for an unknown reason, turns against Cecil and attacks him. When the duel is won by Kain, he takes the Crystal leaving Cecil behind. At the same time both Edward and Yang are defeated by a man called Golbez, who also takes Rosa as hostage. With both the Crystals and Rosa in Kain’s hands, Cecil decides to follow him. Given that Baron’s navy is far weaker that its air force, Cecil suggests to reach Baron by sea and then sneak into the town. Rydia heals the party and they prepare to leave. The king of Fabul donates a ship to the group so that they can continue their quest for the crystals (and Rosa). Shortly after their departure, the ship is caught in a huge whirlwind that appeared right beneath it. Leviathan, also known as the Lord of All Waters, attacks the vessel and makes it move to and fro. Since the ship is rocking a lot on water, Rydia falls overboard. Yang tries to rescue her before it’s too late but he ends up falling overboard as well. Leviathan’s attack scatters the group and for a while it is unknown what has happened to Edward, Yang and Rydia. When Cecil finally regains consciousness, he finds himself on the shore near Mysidia. There he is told by the Elder that to defeat Golbez he has to hand over his dark sword. As a consequence he heads to Mount Ordeals in order to become a Paladin; accompanied by two mages, Palom and Poron, Cecil successfully completes his challenge. On Mount Ordeals he also reunites with Tellah, who joins the party. After attaining his Paladin status, Cecil returns to Baron using an hidden passage called The Devil’s Road. In the meanwhile Yang wakes up on a shore near Baron and, due to an amnesia caused by Leviathan’s attack, he enlist as officer in the local army…unaware he is on the enemy’s side. After a short fight against Cecil, Yang eventually snaps back to reality and informs the party on Rydia’s fate, telling them he wasn’t able to grab her after she fell. With one Crystal left to find, Kain proposes to Golbez to have Cecil retrieve it in exchange for Rosa. Cecil accepts Kain’s conditions and together with Tellah, Yang, and Cid he begins to search for the Crystal of Earth. While they keep a look out for the Crystal, they arrive in Troia where they meet Edward, who recovered there. Like Yang, Edward is unaware of Rydia’s whereabouts and haven’t seen her since Leviathan’s attack. Since Yang last saw Rydia being swallowed, the group draws the only possible solution: that she was killed by Leviathan. Her Second Home - The Feymarch Although it is assumed that Rydia had been killed, she was actually fine and alive. In all reality, Leviathan took her to his homeland; the Feymarch, also known as Land of Summons or “The Land that Lies Between” by the dwarves of Tomra. • fey |fā|: derives from the Old English fæge (“doomed to die”) and carries the related sense “in an unusually excited state (like one about to die).” By an extension, the word came to mean “whimsical, otherworldly, eccentric,” perhaps from confusion with fay (a fairy or elf). Today the word’s original meaning is all but forgotten. • march |mɑrtʃ| |mɑːtʃ|: a frontier or border area between two countries or territories. Ruled by king Leviathan and queen Asura, the Feymarch is the place Eidolonds call home. The Feymarch is located in the Underworld which, as its name says, lies beneath the surface of the Earth. In order to reach the Feymarch one must go through the Passage of the Eidolons, a dungeon that links the Underworld to the town where all the summons live. Aside from its inhabitants, a peculiarity of the Feymarch is the passing of the time. The high number of supernatural beings and the strong aura of magic that enfolds the area causes time to flow faster. While Rydia spends relatively little time in the Feymarch she will be nonetheless affected. Since both the Underworld and the Passage are filled with rocks and lava, special equipment is required in order withstand high temperatures. With her home town destroyed, the Feymarch becomes a second home for Rydia. It is a place where she feels at ease since, growing up in a village of summoners, probably made her accustomed to the presence of Eidolons. Leviathan and Asura take care of Rydia as if she were their daughter and, fighting-wise, she makes important progresses by becoming a better summoner and improving her black magic skills. Rebirth & Return While Rydia was in the Feymarch, Cecil and the others continued their quest to stop Golbez. After a few plot points, the party goes in the underground world, in order to protect the Dark Crystal located in the Dwarven Castle. Despite their efforts, when they face Golbez no one, save for Cecil, survives the attack of his Shadow Dragon. When all hope seems lost Rydia, accompanied by her Mist Dragon, appears and rejoins the party. Thanks to her help, Golbez is defeated. lthough they aren’t able to prevent him from stealing the last crystal and go away with it. Everybody is baffled at Rydia’s sight, but she calmly explains what happened to her during her absence. Time moves faster in the Feymarch, so while Cecil and his allies were separated from Rydia for only a short period of time, years went past in the Feymarch, and Rydia grew into a young woman at an accelerated rate. Since she came back to help, she promptly rejoins the party in an adventure to acquire the Crystals, defeat Golbez and save the world from peril and destruction once again. & To Be Continued sinceRydia'stiredfromeditingthispage… Category: Characters Category: Final Fantasy IV FFTumblr Coming soon once Rydia gets off her daily of dosage of fried pickles. Relationships Coming soon, but get ready to have your minds blown. Feel free to drool and be jealous, but know that that piece of dragoon Shimmercookie assbootay is Rydia's. Get it? Got it? Good.